Rope side-frame conveyor with nonwalking supporting stand



April 22, 1958 2,831,567

ROPE SIDE-FRAME CONVEYOR WITH NON-WALKING SUPPORTING STAND OriginalFiled March 23, 1956 A. H. NEWBURY 2 Sheets-Sheet l BELT EMPTY Fvi.1

.OUTBYE END LOAD com/v0 0/v i I'NBYE END ROPE SH/F TING AS LOADAPPROACHES TH/S PO/NT I Flg. 2 R

ROPE DOES NOT BELT UN/FORMLV L OADED END TO END ROPE SHIFT/N6 AS REAREND OF LOAD APPROACHES THIS POINT [NB YE END ROPE SHIFT/N6 AS LOADINVENTOR. Allan H. Newbury W4- ATTORNEY LEAVES TH/SPO/NT v LOAD GOINGOFF OUTBVE END April 2 1953 A. H. NEW BURY 2,831,567

ROPE SIDE-FRAME CONVEYOR WITH NON-WALKING SUPPORTING STAND 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed March 23, 1956 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Fig. 6

INVENTOR BY Allan H. Newbury A TTORNEY Unite St ROPE SIDE-FRAME CGNVEYORWITH NON- WALKZNG SUPPSRTING STAND Allan H. Newbnry, Oak Hill, W. Va.,assignor to Goodman Manufacturing Company, Chicago, 11]., a corporationof Illinois 11 Claims. (Cl. 198-192) This invention relates generally toconveyors and particularly to an improved ground supported stand for arope side frame belt conveyor.

Generally, by way of identification, a rope side frame conveyor isdisclosed in Craggs and McCann applications Serial Number 521,355, filedJuly 11, 1955. now abandoned and Serial Number 600,418, filed July 27,1956 as a continuation of the former application and now Patent Number2,773,257. Briefly, it comprises a pair of transversely spaced flexiblestrands, such as wire ropes, trained along parallel courses and held ata suitable spacing above the ground by supporting stands. Verticallyarticulated troughing roller assemblies are supported across the ropesand the load carrying reach of the belt runs along the rollerassemblies. The return reach of the belt is carried on idlers which mayalso be supported by the stands.

I have found that under certain conditions in which the load comes onand goes off frequently, or varies in intensity, the ropes shift in aforward and backward direction, carrying the supporting stands withthem. This movement is not always the same on both sides of the stands,hence they tend to become slued and even shift sidewise to throw theropes out of line and untrain the belt. Sometimes this forward andbackward movement is sufiicient even to tip the stands over entirely.

Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide africtionless support for the wire rope, such as a rotatable sheave or ahardened curved shoe, for example but Without limitation thereto,between the supporting stand and the wire ropes so the latter can shiftback and forth freely without moving the stand.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a foot on thebottom of the stand which is of sufficiently large dimension, asmeasured parallel to the ropes, to keep the stand from tipping overbecause of shifting of the ropes.

Further objects and advantages will be seen from the followingdescription in which:

Figure 1 is a side view of an intermediate section of a rope side framebelt conveyor, which for the sake of example may be considered as beinglocated at the middle of the conveyor, showing a supporting standemploying one form of anti-friction connection with the rope sideframes, Figure 1 showing the belt unloaded and moving from the right tothe left;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 but belt moving and end at theright;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing the condition where thebelt is fully loaded end to end;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 but showing the condition wherethe end of a load passes over the supporting stand;

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4, condition as the load passes offof the belt;

Figure 6 is a cross sectional view of Figure 1 taken showing the with aload coming on from the inby showing the tes atent along the line 6-6and shows a portion of the-stand at the right in cross-section;

Figure 7 is an alternate form of frictionless connection; and

Figure 8 is a cross sectional view of Figure 7 taken along the line 8-8.

Like parts are designated by like reference characters throughout thefigures of the drawing.

This application is a continuation of my co-pending application SerialNo. 573,553, filed March 23, 1956, now abandoned.

Referring first to the details of the embodiment shown in Figures 1through 6, the side frames of the conveyor comprise two flexible strands11, 11, in this case a pair of wire ropes, trained, taut, intransversely spaced generally parallel courses. Spanning the ropes atintervals are vertically articulated troughing roller assemblies 12which support the upper, load-carrying run 13 of a conveyor belt. Thelower run is designated 14. Sincethe detailed construction of the rollerassemblies 12 forms no part of the present invention, it will not bedescribed here, but a full disclosure may be had by reference to theabove-mentioned Craggs and McCann patent.

t intervals along the rope side frames 11, 11, there are positioned aplurality of supporting members or stands 16, only one being shown inthe drawing, and this, for convenience in description, is regarded asbeing located at the center of the conveyor, that is half-way betweenthe head and tail ends. The supporting members or stands 16 maintain therope side frames 11, 11 at a predetermined spacing above the ground andthe spacing between stands 16 will vary depending on the serviceconditions, primarily the maximum load, and will be spaced close enoughtogether to keep the catenary droop of the rope frame 11 withinreasonable limits. By way of example, for a thirty-inch wide beltcarrying coal at 500 feet per minute, the stands may be locatedapproximately twenty feet apart.

As best shown in Figure 6, the stand 16 comprises a ground-engaging foot17, a pair of upstanding legs 13}, 18, each terminating in anupwardly-open yoke or bifurcation 19 having a pair of vertical arms 21,21 supporting a transverse shaft 22. Each of the latter shafts supportsa mounting, supporting or guiding device, such as a rotatable sheave 25,which carries one of the ropes 11.

Thus, since the sheaves 23, 23 comprises an antifriction mounting,supporting, guiding or connecting means between the supporting stand andthe wire rope side frames, it will be obvious that the ropes can shiftfreely over the sheaves in a longitudinal direction without moving thestand, or tipping it.

As shown in Figure 6, the foot 17, in the embodiment shown, is welded toand extends between the bottom ends of the legs 18, 18, therebyfunctioning as a spacer to hold the sheaves 23, 23, and the ropes 11,11, a determined distance apart. As also shown in Fig. 6, a transversespacer strut 28 likewise extends between the legs 18, 18 to stabilizeand strengthen the construction.

When the conveyor is of considerable length, say, 500 feet or more, andis intermittently loaded, or the load on it varies, as for example wherethe conveyor is used to take away the output of a mining operation,there are times when the forces exerted by the rope on the stand willhave a resultant component tending to tip it over. To prevent thishappening, the width W (Fig. 2) of the foot (that is in a directionmeasured longitudinally of the conveyor) must be sufiicient that theline of action of the resultant R of the forces exerted by the rope willpass through the foot and not beyond it. The line of action of theresultant R may be determined simply by bisecting the angle of the ropeas it passes over the sheaves 23 and extending the bisection line J"downward. For some purposes, it is convenient to consider the two linesof action on both sheaves as being in a plane of action. Stating thisline of action in another way, it may be determined by equalizing theangles a and 11" (see Figs. 1, 2 and 5).

The anti-friction connection or mounting device need not necessarily bea rotatable sheave. As shown in the modified form in Figures 7 and 8,the yoke 19 and sheave 2-3 atop each leg 18 may be substituted simply byan upwardly-open, U-cross-section hardened shoe 24, having astrand-engaging lower surface portion 26 which is preferably upwardlyconvex in shape to present substantially a point contact with the rope.For all practical purposes, this comprises an anti-friction connectionbetween the stand and the ropes.

The anti-friction connection or mounting device contemplated by thisinvention may be any suitable arrangement in which the friction betweeneach rope and its respective support is sumciently low that longitudinalmovement of the rope relative to the support will not pull the supportover.

The use and operation of the invention will now be described.

Assume the stand shown in the figures to be half-Way between the inbyand outby ends of the conveyor, which are respectively rightandleft-hand in the drawings Assume further that the conveyor is used tocarry away the output from a mining operation and will vary betweenfully loaded and empty conditions while running continuously.

If the belt is empty, it will assume the symmetrical condition shown inFigure 1, whether running or still. In that case, note that theresultant R is exerted straight downward through its leg 18, andtherefore has no component tending to tip the stand.

Now, assume a miner begins to load the inby (righthand) end of the belt.It will be apparent that the loaded portion of the belt will sag on theropes more than the empty portion. Thus, as the inby end isprogressively loaded, the rope will shift to the right. The maximumrightwise shift relative to the stand 16 is shown in Figure 2, whichpictures the instant that the load reaches the stand. At that time theentire belt inby of the stand is fully loaded, and the entire outbyportion is empty. Under this condition, R is as far as it will ever goto the left, but still intersect the foot 17 well within the dimension Wso it represents a condition of stability.

Assume now that the miner continues to load the inby end of the belt. Asthe incoming end of the load passes over the stand 16, the rope beginsto shift to the left until the belt is uniformly loaded from end to end.At that time the rope stops shifting and. the symmetrical, fully loadedcondition of Figure 3 is obtained.

Eventually the miner stops loading. As the belt continus to run, itprogressively empties, lightening the load from the inby end, causing ashift of rope to the left as shown in Figure 4, until the maximum degreeof shift occurs at the instant the end of the load passes over thestand. The resultant R will then be swung to the right, to its maximumright-hand condition, substantially as shown in Figure 4. However itwill be observed that, again, R is well within the foot so as torepresent another condition of stability.

As the belt continues to run, from the Figure 4 position, it empties theoutby portion, progressively lightening it and progressively shiftingrope back to the right as shown in Figure 5. When the load is run oifand the belt is completely empty, the symmetrical condition of Figure 1will be re-assumed.

While the belt is running as abovedescribed, the return reach 14 may besupported as shown on an idler 27 carried by the stand 16. A transversestrut or spacer '28 may be provided to maintain the legs 18, 18 rigidlyspaced apart.

From the foregoing description, it has been demonstrated that greatpractical benefits result in providing a friction-free, or asubstantially friction-free, guide or mounting device between the ropesand supporting stand of a rope side frame conveyor. The tendency of thestand to tip over, walk lengthwise of the conveyor, or slue sidewisewith the consequent possible de-training of the belt has been completelyeliminated by this improvement.

While two particular embodiments in which the present invention may bemade have been shown and described, it will be understood that variousother modifications and variations thereof may be effected withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by theappended claims.

l claim as my invention:

1. In a belt conveyor, a pair of laterally spaced generally parallelflexible strands; troughing assemblies spaced along said strands,spanning said strands and suspended therefrom; a conveyor beltlongitudinally movable along said assemblies relative to said strands;strand supporting means spaced from the troughing assemblies along saidstrands, an anti-friction supporting connection between said supportingmeans and the respective strands enabling relative longitudinal shiftingmovement between the supporting means and the respective strands duringthe movement of the belt relative to the strands.

2. In a belt conveyor, a pair of laterally spaced generally parallelflexible strands; troughing assemblies spaced along said strands,spanning said strands and suspended therefrom; a conveyor beltlongitudinally movable along said assemblies relative to said strands;strand supporting means longitudinally spaced from the troughingassemblies along said strands, and connecting means between saidsupporting means and said strands, said connecting means includinganti-friction means enabling free relative longitudinal shiftingmovement between said supporting means and the respective strands duringthe movement of the belt relative to the strands.

3. In a belt conveyor, a pair of laterally spaced generally parallelflexible strands; troughing roller assemblies spaced along said strands,spanning said strands and suspended therefrom; a conveyor belt havingthe conveying reach thereof supported by and longitudinally movablealong said roller assemblies relative to said strands; supporting meansfor said strands longitudinally spaced from the roller assemblies alongsaid strands, connecting means between said supporting means and therespective strands, said connecting means comprising freely turningsheave means guiding the strands and enabling relative longitudinalshifting movement between the support means and the respective strandsduring the movement of the conveying reach of the belt relative to thestrands.

4. In a belt conveyor, a pair of laterally spaced generally parallelflexible strands; troughing assemblies spaced along said strands,spanning said strands and suspended therefrom; a conveyor beltlongitudinally movable along said assemblies relative to said strands;strand supporting means spaced from the troughing assemblies along saidstrands, said supporting means including a ground-engaging element, apair of legs extending upwardly from the element, each leg having asupporting connection with one of said strands, each of said supportingconnections comprising an anti-friction means enabling free relativelongitudinal shifting movement between said supporting means and therespective strands during the movement of the belt relative to thestrands.

5. In a belt conveyor, a pair of laterally spaced generally parallelflexible strands; troughing roller assemblies spaced along said strands,spanning said strands and suspended therefrom; a conveyor belt havingthe conveying reach thereof supported by and movable along said rollerassemblies relative to the strands; supporting means for maintainingsaid strands at a predetermined height comprising a ground-engaging foothaving upstanding legs, each of said legs having an anti-frictionsupporting connection with one of said strands, each of said supportingconnections comprising an anti-friction means enabling free relativelongitudinal shifting movement between said supporting means and therespective strands during the movement of the conveying reach of theconveyor belt relative to the strands, each strand exerting a downwardresultant force on the respective leg along a line bisecting the angleformed by the respective strand at the respective connection, said footextending on both sides of a vertical plane common to said connections,said foot being intersected by a second plane common to said lines ofresultant force, said second plane being shiftable about said supportingconnections to intersect first one side and then the other of said footduring the movement of the strands.

6. In a belt conveyor, a pair of laterally spaced generally parallelflexible strands fixed at their opposite ends, troughing assembliesattached at their opposite ends to and spanning the space between saidstrands at spaced intervals therealong, a conveyor belt movablelongitudinally of and relative to said strands on said assemblies,supporting members at spaced intervals along the opposite sides of saidbelt in proximity to said strands, and a strand mounting device for eachsaid supporting member attached thereto and having a strand-engagingportion in supporting engagement with the portion of the strand inproximity to said supporting member to mount each said strand for freelongitudinal shifting movement relative to its supporting members.

7. In a belt conveyor as set forth in claim 6 wherein each said strandengaging portion is carried by its supporting member for movementrelative thereto to enable the strand engaging said strand-engagingportion to freely shift longitudinally relative to said member.

8. In a belt conveyor as set forth in claim 6 wherein the supportingmembers along each side of said belt are fixed against movement relativeto those along the other side of said belt in a direction transverselythereof and cooperate with the mounting devices to hold said strands inlaterally spaced relationship from each other.

9. In a belt conveyor as set forth in claim 6 wherein spacer membersextend between the supporting members along each side of said belt andthose along the other side thereof, respectively, and fix saidsupporting members against relative movement transversely of saidstrands to maintain said strands in laterally spaced relationship.

10. In a belt conveyor, a pair of laterally spaced generally parallelflexible strands, troughing assemblies attached to and spanning thespace between the strands, a conveyor belt movable longitudinally of andrelative to said strands on said assemblies, supporting memberspositioned along the opposite sides of said belt in proximity to saidstrands, and a strand mounting device for each said supporting memberattached thereto and having a strand engaging portion in supportingengagement with the portion of the respective strand in proximity to thesupporting member to mount each said strand for free longitudinalshifting movement relative to the respective supporting member.

11. In a belt conveyor, a pair of laterally spaced generally parallelflexible strands; troughing roller assemblies spaced along said strands,spanning said strands and suspended therefrom; a conveyor belt havingthe conveying reach thereof supported by and longitudinally movable uponsaid roller assemblies relative to said strands; supporting means forsaid strands being longitudinally spaced along said strands from theroller assemblies, each supporting means comprising a base and a pair ofstrand guiding elements carried by said base and supporting therespective strands, said strand guiding elements being freely movableback and forth in the direction of the respective strands and enablingfree longitudinal shifting movement of the strands relative to the baseduring the movement of the conveying reach of the belt relative to thestrands.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,748,301 McKinlay Feb. 25, 1930

